The British Museum, 249 years old today

The British Museum Opens Its Doors (1759)

When the British Museum opened to the public in 1759, its exhibits were based largely on the collections of physician and milk chocolate inventor Sir Hans Sloane.
In 1784, the museum acquired its first notable addition of antiquities, a collection of Greek and Roman artifacts belonging to the British Ambassador to Naples.
Today, the museum is home to more than 13 million historical items, including the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles.